Fitness is a journey. Not a destination. What I think is wrong with the industry these days, is that everybody is focused on the end result: how you look, or what numbers you want on that barbell.
What motivates you? Why do you train? Are you chasing numbers on the scale or barbell??
The journey to fitness and health is forever ongoing. Remember the last time you took a few weeks off training and you felt so much weaker/unfit coming back? Our bodies are amazingly efficient at using up any muscle we no longer need. Fitness is a constant uphill battle. You can’t just reach a certain level of fitness and stay there by not doing anything. It must be worked on, hours must be spent, a proper program must be followed, consistency is key. I see so many people focus on the end result so much that they forget to enjoy the journey. The journey: Those early mornings turned productive thanks to the post-workout endorphin’s, the healthy greens in your lunch that are nourishing your gut and cells, the laughs with your fellow gym mates, the ‘rush’ of that elevated heart rate, learning a new recipe, seeing and feeling the improvements in your mobility. Fitness should be fun.
The other day I was driving and saw an ad from a well known gym, the billboard showed a lady in exercise gear, smiling and holding a doughnut with the slogan: Do cardio things for sweet flings.
Now for me, that is sending the wrong message to the world. It is saying exercise to work off the “bad” foods. The ad is placing guilt around sweet foods. It’s teaching generations to feel guilt around “bad” foods and that you need to work them off. It’s basically telling you to try and out-train a bad diet, which we all know we cannot do. You can’t out train a bad diet.
No foods are “bad”. Foods just contain varying amounts of protein, carbs, fats, minerals and micronutrients. Sweet foods can be healthy in moderation and eaten at the right times. High fat foods can also be eaten in moderation in a balanced diet and exercise lifestyle. We all know HOW to eat healthy. But its the CHANGE and transition into eating healthy that is the hard part. Changing HABITS produces CHANGE over time.
Let’s dig a little deeper into biology for a second. Your entire body is made from cells. These tiny cells control pretty much everything in our body. Did you know your cell membrane (wall) is made up of lipids (also known as fats)? These fats are permeable, which means nutrients & materials can penetrate in and out of the cell wall to provide nourishment, energy and much more. Now if we are consuming lots of GOOD FATS, think nuts, seeds, olive oils, flax, fish, avocados etc, these types of fats a nice and fluid, and keep our cells functioning optimally. Now think about your saturated fats, like animal fats, coconut oils, palm oils etc which are solid at room temperature, and then lets even look into our processed fats used in foods needing a long shelf life, like trans-fats, margarine, safflower oils, soybean oils, corn oils etc. These fats, if consumed in high amounts, are alot thicker, less permeable, and will slow down our cell wall penetrability. This makes for sluggish cells, sluggish systems and a sluggish body, a foggy mind. Do you really want that?
You know what foods usually contain some form of trans fat? Store bought doughnuts, cakes, biscuits, microwave popcorn, fried foods and many more processed foods.
We don’t want sluggish cells and a sluggish body. The company promoting eating donuts because you workout is sending the total wrong message. Exercise makes us feel GOOD. It makes us crave healthy foods. Healthy foods nourish our cells. Unhealthy foods can be eaten, but in moderation, and we shouldn’t feel guilty about it because it rarely happens.
Life can be lived healthily and happily, and can include doughnuts… in moderation!
Now go eat a doughnut, smell it, taste it, enjoy it and sit on your bum afterwards.
Coach Soni